The present invention relates to an apparatus for simultaneously operating a plurality of different sonar systems on a ship, particularly a large ship.
Such sonar systems include echo sounders and Doppler recorders and are used particularly on large ships, such as tankers, container ships and freighters. They are composed of a plurality of units, i.e. acoustic transducers disposed below the water level and electronic devices installed within the ship, e.g. on the bridge. These units may be arranged, for example, 50 to 500 m apart from one another, one unit being at the bow and the other unit being at the stern. Electrical conductors are thus required to connect these units, which are part of the same system.
It is known, and customary to use one or a plurality of coaxial cables as the connecting elements for each of the installed units. Such cables when used in ships and particularly tankers, must also meet strict requirements imposed by the classification societies, since the ship's safety must be assured. Such societies are, for example, the Germanischer Lloyd or Det Norske Veritas.
As a result, it is necessary to incur high costs, which include the costs for material, i.e. for the cable, which is expensive because of the structural specifications required to meet the above-mentioned safety conditions. Furthermore, the high costs include the labor costs incurred during the installation and connection of these cables. These expenditures and labor costs far exceed the material costs. In order to reduce the labor costs it is known to encase a plurality of coaxial cables in one sheath. The thus resulting special cables are also expensive due to their limited field of application and the large amount of copper required for their shielding.